Improvement in weather-strips



l my improvements attached.

UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE.

IMPROVEMENT IN WEATHEa-sTmPs.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 39,7 l S, dated September 1, 1863.

'o all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES CLAY, of Hudson city, county of St. Groix, and State of Wisconsin, have invented a new and useful Improvement in VeatherStrips for Doors, and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and the letters marked thereon, which forni a part ot' this speciiication.

Figure I represents a front perspective view ot the door standing open a t'ew inches, with Fig. ll represents a transverse sectional view ot' the door closed, with a like view of the weatherstrips overlapped, and one of the boxes with its eye or socket. Fig. Ill represents the ring-tappet. Fig. 1V represents a top view ot the t hinged weather-strip in its angular position in relation to the door-jambs and carpet-strip.

My improvements are designed to obviate the defects and objections to the weatherstrips hitherto introduced into public use. i

My invention consists in the construction of the eyes or sockets of the boxes, and the flat pivotal projecting ends ot' the tilting or adjusting strip, whereby these are rendered more efficient and are made at less expense than an ordinary hinge, and whereby the eye or socket of the box is caused to operate as an eccentric or wedge-cam to hold the outer and lower edge of the adjusting-strip in close contact with the door-sill when the door is closed 5 also, in the arrangement ofthe self-adjusting hinged strip in an angular relation to the doorjambs and carpet-strip or sill, by which means the overlapping edges of the two weather` strips are caused to be pressed firmly together throughout their entire length when the door is closed, as will be herein more fully described; also, in the use of a ring or disk formed Tappet, arranged vertically, as herein described and illustrated, whereby all liability of catching or holding the apparel of persons passing through the doorway is obviated.

To enable others to make and use my invention, I will now describe the manner of construction and operation of the same.

The strips or plates of metal or other material, A and B, oi suitable thickness, are made of a length equal to the width of the doorway, and the hinged adjusting-strip has an additional. length of about half an inch, extending a part of its width, as represented by the projecting ends x, which serve as pivots or journals of a hinge. These pivots or dat projecting ends of strip B may be only long enough to retain the strip in placa-say one-eighth of an inch instead of one-fourth of an inchand they may be made at the same operation with and as extensions of the strip B.

The boxes C; one of which is shown in Fig. Il, are made with an opening or socket, a, at their base, and secured at the bottom ot1 the door-jambs by a single woodscrew each. The eye or socket a is of the same width as and corresponds with the width of the projecting or pivot ends x of the adjusting-strip B but the eye diminishes in width toward the top to form the eccentric curve. The eye or socket may also be so formed as to allow the tlatl projecting pivot ends of the strip B to strike, when the door is shut, against the straight inclined outer boundary of the eye or socket, and thereby present no view ot' the eye or socket from outside the door when it is shut. It will be seen, when the box is inserted with its face flush with the doorjamb, and its base resting upon the sill, that the boundaries of the socket or eye at the sill-line and outer line are both straight lines forming an acute angle, and that its inner line of boundary is an irregular curve. The object, as above stated, of giving this eccentric form to the curved line ot' the eye is to wedge down the edge ot' the tilting or adjusting strip upon thc door-sill. Strip A is bent or curved near its longitudinal center, so as to incline from the door at an angle of about forty degrees, as seen in the drawings, Fig. lL The strips A and B, as well as the boxes (J, may be made ot' heavy or thick hoop-iron or brass, one and one-fourth inch wide, and also the tappet o. y

Having described the manner of constructing the several parts of my weather-strips, I will proceed to describe the manner of applying and using the same. The boxes C being first secured to the door-j ambs b yasingle screw each, the adjusting-strip B (which has the rin gtappet o riveted to it, as seen in the drawings) may be sprung sufficiently to permit its tlat pivotal ends to enter the eye oi' the boxes. The door-strip A is then attached closely, by screws or other means, near .the bottom ot' the door, so that its lower section shall stand out from the door, and its lower edge, when the overlapping edges in close contact.

It will be observed that I have arranged the adjusting-strip B (see Fig. IV) in an angular relation to the door-sill d, carpet-strip e, and

- door-jambsf, the right-hand end having its inner edge placed farther into the doorway, as ,the-strip lies on the sill, thanthe endtoward i or next the door hinge. angular manner of arranging the adjusting- Ihe result of this 1sti ip in its hinges is .to cause additional pressure to be given by the fixed strip A against the `overlapped ad justin g-st rip during the last l.part of the movement of the door in closing it.

This arrangement also compensates for any .want of .eXactness in fitting or making the s-trips perfectly plane, and always insures a perfectly tight joint betweenthestrips. These overlapping. strips A and B, at their ends where the tappet is fastened, will readily close or come in contact in closing the door, before 1 the door is brought in contact with therabbet f of the door-jamb, and the additional pressure given to completely-close the door against-,the

rabbet will cause the two strips A and B t0 be pressed together firmly throughout their entire length. Besides, this additional pressure given in closing the door will cause the flat i pivotal ends ofthe adjusting-strip B to wedge against the eccentric curve of the-cani-shaped eye or socket a, thereby forcing the outer or lcwer edge of strip B to impin ge and bc held firmlydown upon the sill, thus rendering the joints complete and tight. In opening the door, the hinged strip will be forced down'upon vthe sill by the fixed strip A.

- Among the advantages of my improved weather-strip may be enumerated its capability of being used upon doors with stone sills without drilling the sill, as was necessary in the use of my weather-strip patented November 17,1862; also, the construction and arrangement of the tappet o, which presen ts but a thin edge or width of periphery within the doorway, and of a form which cannot catch and hold to the apparel of persons in passing through the doorway is deemed to be a decided improvement upon those heretofore in Another advantage isthe cheapness and facility of its manufacture, as all the parts may be quickly. formed from common hoop-iron,

from one to ,two inches wide, or of sheet-brass or other metal, by means of dies and chisels of the forms of the several parts, and there is but one rivet or fastening of any kind necessary to complete the manufacture ready to be applied to use ;v and an ordinary mechanic will be able to-attach the entire improvements to a door in a few minutes, it requiring but five or six wood-screws for the purpose.

In securing the strips to doors of any construction, it will only be necessary to trim away the outer edge of the carpet-strip sufficiently to permit the adjusting-stri p B to be placed in its proper angular relation, as shown in the drawings, and before described.

Having thus fully described my'invention,

- what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

I." The construction of' boxes U, with their cam-shaped eye or socket a, in combination with the iiat projecting ends xx ofthe adjusting strip B, to operate substantially in the manner and for the purposes described.

2.` The construction of the eye of the boxes C with the one eccentrically-curved edge, to serve as a cam-wedge to hold the edge of the Weather-strip close down upon the sill, in the manner and for the purpose described.

3. The arrangement of the adjusting' strip B angularly in relation to the door-janibs, sill, and carpet-strip, for the purpose of causingthe joints between the overlapping strips and between tlle adjusting-strip and sill to be firmly and tightly closed, in thc manner substan-v Witnesses:

H. P. K. PECK, SAMUEL D. FrrToN. 

